"O God, I could be bounded in a nut shell and count myself
a king of infinite space,
were it not that I have bad dreams."
- Hamlet
Act II scene ii

24 August 2012

Roving

When the land is blanketed with a thick layer of grey-white cloud - that's not the best of days on which to take successful photographs. But I wanted to keep up the momentum of my walking habit so yesterday I was out and about in the Hope Valley of northern Derbyshire anyway. Another four hours of walking.

My first stop was the site of the old Roman fort at Navio close to the hamlet of Brough. The fort was built in around 73AD, some fifty years before the Romans set to work on Hadrian's Wall. There's little to see nowadays - just the man-made earthwork plateau on which the original wooden fort stood and a few stones that may have belonged to a succeeding and more sturdy fortress structure.

Navio Roman fortress

I crept by a massive Schwarzenegger-like bull in a meadow above the village of Hope. I anticipated vaulting over the boundary wall but fortunately he just kept munching grass, surrounded by his harem of young cows. I stopped in Castleton for a pint of milk and an egg and cress sandwich from "Happy Shopper" before heading out of the village into Cave Dale which is overlooked by the ruins of Peveril Castle - erected in Norman times.

The entrance to Cave Dale from Castleton

Looking down Cave Dale to Peveril Castle

And so I walked onwards - up onto Bradwell Moor passing the remains of various lead and fluorspar mine workings. Then descending New Lane into the village of Bradwell, I snapped my best picture of the afternoon. This lonesome limestone barn with the domed summit of Win Hill beyond. In spite or maybe because of the white-greyness of the day the photograph has emerged just as I hoped it would. I'm a sucker for decrepid old buildings like this one:-

It does almost look like a painting and I looked up Andrew Wyeth too. We have printed a couple of Tony's photos on canvas and one in particular has been mistaken for a painting many times. I love old stone barns in photos too. Another lovely walk YP ( and some familiar places mentioned too. You know how I love that !!!)Cheers

I enjoyed this post, as I enjoy most of your posts. My favorite shot was actually the one of the steep valley - the Cave Dale. Wow, spectacular! I haven't done any landscape paintings for a long time, but I'd love to do that one!

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